The Russian ambassador to the United Nations on Friday told the Security Council that the US has much to gain in gas trade from damage to the Nord Stream pipeline system under the Baltic Sea but stopped short of blaming Washington for this week's explosions.
A council meeting convened at Russia's request addressed leaks discovered on Tuesday on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines on which Russian-controlled Gazprom and its European partners spent billions of dollars.
A main question about the blasts was whether the United States could gain from the destruction of the pipelines, ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said. "The answer is undoubtedly."
"American liquefied natural gas suppliers should be celebrating the manifold increase in LNG supplies to Europe," Nebenzia said.
Earlier on Friday Russian President Vladimir Putin said the United States and its allies blew up Nord Stream. "The sanctions were not enough for the Anglo-Saxons: they moved onto sabotage," he said. The United States and other countries have imposed several rounds of sanctions against Russia since Putin sent his forces to invade Ukraine in late February.
The White House has dismissed the accusation it was responsible.